“Now, keep the Caliphate like a tamed and saddled camel! But with no
doubt the Day of Judgment will come. And be aware that the most just ruler is
Allah, and the best petitioner for justice is Muhammad, and the best court is
established on the Resurrection Day, and that day, the guilty will be the
losers.”

(Selected from
the sermon of Lady Fatimah al-Zahra (PBUH) known as Fadakyah Sermon)

The last days of Lady Fatimah’s (PBUH)
life was twisted with the usurpation of Caliphate and the alteration of the
Prophet’s (PBUH&HP) message. During the days which the ruling party was
trying to isolate Ali (PBUH), Fadak gains double importance. Fadak (1) is a
piece of land which Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) granted to Fatimah (PBUH) as
a gift. However, after the demise of the Prophet (PBUH&HP), the ruling
government usurped it. In return, Lady Fatimah (PBUH) took action to repossess
her property, and claimed ownership of that piece of land; however, the ruling party
did not accept her claim. Nevertheless, the real intention of Lady Fatimah
(PBUH), and her tireless strive during those days might be hidden behind
discussions. In fact, referring to her words in her last days of life puts
light on the secret of her objection.

By analyzing the sermon of Lady
Fatimah (PBUH), which was delivered in the Mosque of the Prophet before the
caliph and in presence of many of the companions of the Prophet (PBUH&HP),
many aspects of this claim becomes clear. This sermon, known as the “Fadakyiah
Sermon”, revolves around reminding the merits of Ali (PBUH), praising his
Islamic and eternal position-takings, and proving the right of the Ahl al-Bayt
(PBUT), where she said, “They are the means for humans to reach Allah (SWT),
His pure worshipers, the witnesses of the Divine unseen, and the heirs of
kingdom of the prophets.”

On the other hand, this sermon
contains statements in which she reproaches and accuses the Muslims who forgot
the teachings of the Prophet (PBUH&HP), “They fell into misery; and chose
an unmerited person mistakenly; and returned to the way of their ancestors; and
intruded others’ share in seek of water; and bestowed the important matter of
Caliphate to the undeserved one; and with all this, they fell into great conspiracy.”
Then Lady Fatimah (PBUH) points to the vicious motives of some Muslims which
encourages them to abandon the Holy Quran, and finally illustrates their
obvious opposition to the Divine order in regards to the Caliphate and Imamate.

As it is clear, these statements refer
more to the criticism of the ruling party’s policies than to claiming Fadak.
The main worry of Fatimah (PBUH) is not her inheritance, rather the separation
of Islam from infidelity, and faith from hypocrisy. The high aspiration of Fatimah
(PBUH), with which the opportunists were familiar, was not proving her right of
inheritance; rather she was committed to eradicate the signs of deviations
occurred after the demise of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HP). However,
attaining this goal was not possible through bringing evidences on the property
rights of Fadak, but only with giving clear evidences on the guilt and
aberration of people in public. The role of Fatimah (PBUH) was to claim the
usurped property, and to put it as an introduction to the fundamental dispute
over Caliphate.

That is why after several years, when
Harun al-Rashid, the Abbasid Caliph, asked Imam Musa ibn Ja’ffar (PBUH) to
depict the boundaries of Fadak, to supposedly return it to the children of
Fatimah (PBUH), Imam (PBUH) specifies the entire Islamic territories as the
four boundaries of Fadak. (2) In reality, the respond of the Imam reveals the
obscured aspect of Lady Fatimah’s (PBUH) rising, which is an objection to the
usurpation of the Caliphate, and thus, separates the political boundaries of
Fadak from its geographical ones.

Therefore, Fadak is a symbol of a
great concept, which never fits into the limits of that usurped land in Hijaz.
This important matter is the hidden meaning of Fadak, which drives its dispute
from a minor argument to a vast and wide rising. Indeed, the dispute of Fadak
is a rising against the basis of the governorship of the usurpers, and is a
roaring outcry by which Lady Fatimah (PBUH) intended to demolish the crooked
foundation upon which the government after the demise of Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH&HP) was built.

(The above is a selection
taken from “Fadak in History”, by Shahid Ayatullah Sayyid Muhammad Baqir
al-Sadr (with some changes))

The Roshd Website offers condolences
to all Muslims, especially you dear friend, upon the 3rd of Jamadi al-Thani,
the anniversary of the martyrdom of the great defender of Islam and the heir of
the Prophet (PBUH&HP), Lady Fatimah al-Zahra (PBUH).

On this occasion, the Roshd website
has prepared a background wallpaper and some sound files.

Footnotes:

1. Fadak is a
village in Hijaz (Saudi Arabia), from which it took two to three days to travel
to Medina. From the beginning, this village was a Jewish land, and was the
abode of a Jewish tribe. After Islam became dominant, the Jews signed a peace
treaty with Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) by granting half of it, or according
to some narrations all of it, to him on the 7th year after Hijra. Since Fadak
was not conquered with military might, it became the personal property of the
Prophet (PBUH&HP) according to the Holy Quran. After a while, the Prophet
(PBUH&HP) offered it as a gift to his beloved daughter, Lady Fatimah
(PBUH). Fadak was owned by Lady Fatimah (PBUH) until the demise of the Prophet
(PBUH&HP). After that, according to what is narrated in the book of Sawaiq
al-Muhraqah, the first Caliph usurped it from Lady Fatimah (PBUH).